This invention relates to seat belts designed to secure persons in motor vehicles, aircraft, etc., for safety purposes, and more particularly to a buckle assembly for use in such seat belts. Still more particularly, the invention concerns a push button buckle assembly of the metal to metal design, which is fastened to the end of one length of webbing for mating engagement with a tongue which is fastened to the end of another length of webbing.
The seat belt buckle assembly comprises, in essence, a quick release connector capable of positively latching the tongue when the tongue is inserted in the buckle assembly. Once engaged with the tongue, the buckle assembly should not unlatch the tongue in the face of any external forces, other than the buckle release force on the push button, that may be exerted on the buckle assembly in use. The buckle assembly should, nevertheless, readily unlatch and disconnect the tongue upon exertion of the release force on the push button by the wearer of the seat belt.
A variety of buckle assemblies have been suggested for the fulfilment of the above contradictory requirements. Examples are Japanese Patent Laid Open Patent Application Nos. 59-22505 and 59-28904, both filed by the instant applicant and made open to public inspection on Feb. 4, 1984 and Feb. 15, 1984, respectively. Such conventional buckle assemblies are mostly unsatisfactory, however, because of the large numbers of component parts, and/or of the complex shapes and structures of the component parts intricately interrelated both mechanically and functionally. Not only is the fabrication of such complex parts very troublesome and costly, but also they make the assemblage of the buckle assemblies highly difficult, adding substantially to their manufacturing costs.